The call against this definition by the Supreme Court of the Aravalli hills one of the oldest geological structures of the world that cut across the states of Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat and the capital, Delhi saw protests erupt across the northern parts of India.
With the new definition adopted by the court in response to the federal government recommendations, an Aravalli hill is any piece of land that is elevated at least 100 metres (328 ft) over the terrain. Two or more such hills on a distance of less than 500 metres, and the land between them, is treated as an Aravalli range.
Ecologists claim that, by classifying the hills within Aravalli basin in terms of height, many smaller hills inhabited by scrubs but yet possessing ecological advantages due to their low elevation would be abandoned to mining and development work.
However, the federal government argues that the new definition will be used to tighten the belt and bring consistency and not weaken protections.
Why are people protesting?
This was followed by peaceful protests in cities such as Gurugram or Udaipur on this weekend by local citizens, farmers, environmental groups and in some cases lawyers and political parties.
In the case of People for Aravallis group, its founder member Neelam Ahluwalia told BBC that the new definition would be a disservice on the importance of the Aravalli range in assisting prevention of desertification, recharging groundwater, and safeguarding livelihoods in northwest India.
The scrub-covered lower hills are important in avoiding desertification, recharging the underground water, and also contributing to livelihoods as per experts.
Vikrant Tongad, an environmental activist who participated in the campaign to protect the Aravallis, said that this range must not be called by the height value, but the value of its ecological, geological and climatic importance to the surrounding.
He said that in the world, mountain ranges and systems of hills are not recognized by arbitrary height levels but by the functions that they serve.
The range should be considered a part of any geologically connected landform of the Aravalli system, which is of ecological or desertification prevention importance, irrespective of its altitude.
Activists are pressuring the government to delimit Aravalli regions based on scientific standards such as geography, ecology, the connectivity of wildlife and climate-resilience.
According to Mr Tongad, the new definition may invite mining, construction and commercial activity by the court and bring about a greater risk of ecological destruction.
Opposition parties have increased their criticism and they have warned that the new definition would result in grave ecological damages.
The Akhilesh Yadav, the chief of Samajwadi Party, said the existence of Delhi cannot be separated with the protection of Aravallis. The leader of the Rajasthan Congress, Tika Ram Jully referred to the range as the lifeline of the state but even without it the whole area of the state up to Delhi would have become a desert.
What does the government say?
The federal government of India has attempted to tend to ignore these issues.
It announced on Sunday that the new definition is intended to enhance control and provide consistency as well as stated that one objective definition was required to control mining in a consistent manner across states.
It stated that the new definition of the term extends over the whole system of hills – consisting of slopes, related landforms, and areas in between – and that it expressly safeguards clusters of hills and their interrelations.
According to the federal environment ministry, one should not think that mining will be permitted across all landforms that are less than 100 metres.
According to the government, the new mining leases will no longer be granted in areas within the Aravalli hills or ranges whereas old mining leases may be used provided they meet the sustainable mining requirements.
It further stipulated that mining was prohibited in core areas which are regarded as inviolable, which comprise of forests, eco- sensitive and wetlands except with some strategic, critical, and atomic minerals that are permitted by law.
Environment minister Bhupender Yadav reported that there were only 147,000 sqkm of the 147,000 sqkm Aravalli range which can theoretically be mined and only after meticulous research and official consent.
Nonetheless, some of the protesting groups have indicated that they will not stop protesting and that they are in the process of getting legal means to challenge the new definition of the court.
Why is Aravalli in the spotlight?
The immediate precipitant is the decision by the Supreme Court in November 20 on a case that had run long to deal with the issues of illegal mining and environmental conservation in the Aravallis.
A standard definition that was presented by a committee at the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) was adopted by the court: A highland that rises 100 meters or more above other surrounding terrain counts as an Aravalli hill; aggregates count to the formation of a range. The purpose of this decision was to bring about a sustainable management whereby a ban to new mining leases is to be established until the full plan has been made. Environmentalists claim it is in effect nakedly denuding the range of large swaths of protective efforts, evoking former times of decades of legal battles on the bans of mining and intrusion.
A self-made Forest Survey of India (FSI) survey demonstrates that this is less than 90 per cent of the range: in Rajasthan alone, of the 12,081 hills mapped only 1,048 (8.7 per cent) make the grade.
The decision is made when it was reported that illegal mining is being carried out in rampage, and GIS maps were found showing more than 3,000 sites of damages throughout the region with the orange spots indicating 30 years of the mining scars.
They indicate that doing so would eliminate the low and scrub covered Aravalli hills, which are essential in the conservation of the biodiversity, groundwater recharging as well as the dust storms. Exploitation of these hills might cause lowers of water levels, pollution of aquifers in the state of Gujarat, Rajasthan, South Haryana, and Delhi-NCR, and the growth of human-wildlife conflict as a result of habitat loss.
More questions have arisen as the omission of the main areas in the Centre affidavit submitted to Supreme Court. The ministry is said to have left out areas like Chittorgarh which surrounds a fort upon a high outcrop of Aravalli, and Sawai Madhopur, on which is the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve, on the convergence of the Aravalli and the Vindhya.
This is not a fresh problem the Aravallis have been long affected by mining and urbanisation, but the timing of the judgment just before the winter parliamentary session has only increased the level of scrutiny of the issue. It is happening in such cities as Jaipur, and there people are protesting because they think that there would be no ecological damage on a large scale.
Social media has been filled with debates, with videos going viral by influencers and politicians making a national debate out of a regional issue of the future of the ecological environment in India. Platforms are flooded with hashtags such as #SaveAravalli and #SaveAravallisSaveAQI, posts are being viralized followed by profile picture changes (led by people such as former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot) and vehement calls to action which are raising the fear of incurring irreversible harm to the ecology- and thus warrants a rethink.
One-day symbolic fast by rural people is escalating their struggle. The demonstration is based on Tosham Hill in the Northmost extreme of this ancient series of rejection of the rule by height that might put the subordinate hills to unchecked mining.
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